Time For A Drink
by Higuchimon
Summary: [5/5, 5drunkfics LJ challenge, Chosaku, Shouji, & Manjoume family] Sometimes, you just really, really need to have a good stiff drink. Five times Chosaku and Shoji needed one.
1. Not Worried At All

**Disclaimer:** All canon-based characters, situations, and plotlines are copyright to their original owners, creators, and designers. I make no profit, nor want any.  
**Story Title:** Time For A Drink  
**Chapter Title:** Not Worried At All  
**Story Word Count:** 1,046  
**Chapter Word Count:** 1,046  
**Characters:** Manjoume Chosaku, Manjoume Shoji  
**Genres:** Family  
**LJ Challenge:** 5drunkfics: prompt #2, drunk  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Notes:** Please note that this story presents the older Manjoume brothers as NOT being abusive evil bastards who rape and beat their youngest brother twice a day and three times on Sundays. If Chosaku and Shoji being presented as human beings and not vehicles for their younger brother's angst and woe displeases you, click your nearest back button NOW. Also, this takes place about two years before the main GX storyline, in March of 2002. Manjoume Jun is thirteen, Manjome Shoji is nineteen, and Manjoume Chosaku is twenty-two. While I normally refer to Manjoume Jun as 'Manjoume', because this point of view is his brother's, I will refer to him as 'Jun'. Because that's what they call him.  
**Summary:** Sometimes, you just really, really need to have a good stiff drink. Five times Chosaku and Shoji needed one.

* * *

Chosaku usually took his time with his drinks, not wanting to waste them. A good drink was something to savor, in his opinion, and not something just to throw down one's mouth in an attempt to get drunk as quickly as possible.

Which was why at the moment, he drained the can of beer in his hand and tossed it into the recycling bin without another thought, then went to get another one. Shoji had already finished three himself, and looked to be a bit woozy on his feet. The perils of only being nineteen, the elder Manjoume brother supposed through the pleasant haze that was already weaving its way through his thoughts. Shoji wasn't technically old enough to drink at all, but in the Manjoume mansion, it was Chosaku's word that governed, ever since their parents had retired and gone off to live in Aruba. And if Chosaku wanted his younger brother to drink, and if Shoji wanted to, then he would drink.

"Any word yet?" He was quite proud of the fact that he wasn't slurring his words together just yet. After all that he'd had to drink, he was also a little surprised about it. But it wouldn't take much longer. Another few beers should do it.

Beer wasn't his drink of choice, either, even the tasty and expensive Kirin brand. He usually preferred nihonshu, finding the refined rice wine to be much more suitable to his tastes. But at the moment, he really didn't care, not so long as it had alcohol in it, and he could get enough of it in him.

Shoji shook his head a little at the question, then winced some and pressed one hand against the side of his head. Chosaku didn't think he was having a hangover quite so soon, but what was going on in his brother's head was his brother's business.

Both of them looked down the hallway of the mansion at the sound of harsh coughing. Neither could remember having been this worried about anything before, not even when the results of Chosaku's first election had been hanging in the balance. He hadn't wanted to get drunk then. Now, it was all that he wanted to do.

Pneumonia. One of the worst cases that Chosaku had ever seen or heard of in his life. And it was _his_ little brother who had it. All of the family's money couldn't get a cure for it. He couldn't get a law passed against it.

It wasn't likely that Jun would die. He was, usually, quite a healthy boy, but it _had_ been going on for a while. He thought it had been a week, maybe even two weeks. The doctor came and visited regularly, and had encouraged them a couple of times to let him take Jun to the hospital. Chosaku refused. He wasn't that badly off, it awes just _pneumonia_, even if it was a bad case of it. He could shake it at home.

Besides, Chosaku hated hospitals and didn't want to go near any of them if he could avoid it. He would not put his brother in a place where he couldn't go and see him if the mood struck him.

With another cold beer in hand, he strode down the hallway. He could've done his drinking anywhere, and made certain that he didn't hear that noise. He hadn't had a good night's sleep since Jun had come home from school coughing, since his room and Shoji's were on the same hallway as Jun's. He could've had better soundproofing installed, but to be honest…he didn't want to. He wanted to hear those coughs. They reassured him that Jun was still alive.

Not that he thought that to himself, of course. Nor would he have said anything to Shoji or Jun himself. Shoji didn't need to know, and Jun…Jun was thirteen. He _really_ didn't need to know. He just needed to get well again.

He paused outside of the door, which was slightly cracked, and drew in another breath before he looked inside. He could see Jun on the bed from where he was. His brother had always been slightly pale, but now he was burning red with fever, and coughed more than he did anything else.

_Maybe we should take him to the hospital._ He really didn't want to do that. Jun was his brother and the doctors would take care of him here or he'd know the reason why.

White broke up his vision for a moment, and he blinked a bit before his sight cleared and he could see the nurse had moved closer to his brother. She had brought him some water. Good. That would help him. It seemed to be time for his medicine as well.

Chosaku wasn't sure how long he'd been there before Shoji was as well, a beer can held tightly in his own grip. Both of them had been drinking a lot more since Jun had fallen ill. Not enough to affect their performances at work. Neither of them could afford that. Chosaku needed to remain respectable and sober in public, and with Shoji being six months underage, it was better simply to avoid the issue and act normal in public.

He shifted over to the side so his younger brother could get a look at what was going on. Shoji said nothing, only stared for a few minutes, before finishing his drink and starting back down the hallway.

Chosaku followed him, a very pleasant buzz filling his mind. He supposed he was drunk now. He wanted to be; it gave him something to think about that wasn't Jun for the moment. They would probably have to go buy some more beer soon, at the rate they were drinking it. He wanted Jun to get well, not just for his brother's sake, but for the sake of the beer as well. He didn't want to develop a taste for it.

"He's going to be all right." Shoji spoke the words, his voice harsher than normal. Chosaku only nodded. What other answer could he give? Of course Jun would be fine. They were the Manjoume Group. The Manjoume _brothers_. They were going to rule the world someday. Nothing could stop them. Not even pneumonia.

**To Be Continued**


	2. Special Occasion

**Disclaimer:** All canon-based characters, situations, and plotlines are copyright to their original owners, creators, and designers. I make no profit, nor want any.  
**Story Title:** Time For A Drink  
**Chapter Title:** Special Occasion  
**Story Word Count:** 2,136  
**Chapter Word Count:** 1,090  
**Characters:** Manjoume Chosaku, Manjoume Shoji  
**Genres:** Family  
**LJ Challenge:** 5drunkfics: Claim: Manjoume Chosaku, Manjoume Shoji: prompt #1, tipsy  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Notes:** Please note that this story presents the older Manjoume brothers as NOT being abusive evil bastards who rape and beat their younger brother twice a day and three times on Sundays. If Chosaku and Shoji being presented as human beings and not vehicles for their younger brother's angst and woe displeases you, click your nearest back button NOW. This takes place about three months before the main GX storyline, in July of 2004. Manjoume Jun is fifteen, Manjome Shoji is twenty-one, and Manjoume Chosaku is twenty-four. While I normally refer to Manjoume Jun as 'Manjoume', because this point of view is his brother's, I will refer to him as 'Jun'. Because that's what they call him.  
**Summary:** Sometimes, you just really, really need to have a good stiff drink. Five times Chosaku and Shoji needed one.

* * *

"Excellent work, Jun!" Chosaku praised his youngest brother, patting him on the back warmly. "We knew that you could do it." He didn't recall ever having been quite so proud of him before. Even attending the preparatory school associated with Duel Academia didn't always ensure that one would be admitted.

"Of course I could." Jun sniffed a little, pride gleaming in his own eyes over his achievement. "That test was nothing. And the practical exam was a joke. I could've won that with my eyes closed. _You_ could have won that, Chosaku-niisan."

Given that it was Chosaku who had taught Jun the basics of how to play before he'd begun his official education, that was saying something indeed. Precisely what it was saying, neither of the two older Manjoume brothers were certain, but it was obviously a compliment. The test and duel for those who came from the prepatory school were generally considered to be twice or three times as hard as the one that lesser students had to deal with, after all.

"This deserves a treat." Shoji decided, going over to the wine cabinet. Jun turned towards him, his eyes widening a bit as his brother pulled out three glasses and some of the best wine available.

Before he could say anything, Chosaku patted him on the shoulder. "I know, you're not old enough _legally_ yet. But this is a special occasion. It won't happen very often."

Shoji poured out the wine and handed the glasses around. "To the Manjoume Group, and future domination of the world!" All three of them clinked their glasses together, and began to drink. Jun made a face as he tasted his, but gamely kept on drinking it anyway.

"It takes a little getting used to," Chosaku told him, sipping at his with evident enjoyment. "I hardly liked it the first time I tasted it either."

He settled down into his favorite easy chair and admired what had recently been delivered to the mansion: the full uniform of an Obelisk Blue student, along with everything that someone would need to know when they started to attend Duel Academia, an accurate map of the school, and a list of all of the teachers. First year Obelisks, like all Obelisks, were allowed to watch the lesser students, the ones who would end up in Ra Yellow or Osiris Red, take their practical exams as well.

"Are you going to do that?" Chosaku asked after another drink or two, poking at the line on the list of pre-school term events that mentioned those duels. "You could see your…competition."

For a moment, all three were utterly quiet, then burst into gales of derisive laughter. If there was _anyone_ who was going to be competition for Jun's dominance of the school, it would one of his own classmates.

"Really, an _Osiris_ or a _Ra_ being any sort of challenge?" Jun snorted at the thought. He was still working on his first glass of wine, and hadn't drunk that much of it either.

"Don't get too cocky." Shoji warned him. "Some of those Ras are only Ras because their parents didn't have the money to get them good enough cards or to pay for them to go to your school. They could get promoted quickly and be an actual threat. _Don't_ let that happen."

Jun shook his head obediently. "I won't, Shoji-niisan." He was always such a good boy, doing what they told him. Without a doubt, within five years of his graduation, the Manjoume Group would have seized total control of the three major forces of the world: politics, finance, and dueling.

Chosaku eyed his little brother thoughtfully, then rang for the maid. "Bring us some sandwiches," he ordered as soon as the door opened. "And don't be all day about it."

"Yes, sir," the maid whispered quietly, bowing her head low and leaving as silently as she'd come. None of the brothers even noticed that she'd been there. That was the mark of a good servant, in their general opinion. Ambulatory furniture that could on occasion speak.

Having something to eat would cushion the alcohol, and make certain that no matter how much Jun drank, he wouldn't have that bad of a hangover. Chosaku clearly remembered his own first one, and wished that he didn't.

Tonight, he didn't really feel like getting drunk, however. Just slightly buzzed. Everything was working out quite fine at the moment. His political campaigns were at their peak, Shoji's work at the bank was without peer, and now Jun would start on the last phase of the plan.

He sipped more at his drink, admiring the outfit as it hung on the wall in the plastic cover it had arrived in. "Try it on," he decided after a few moments. Neither he nor Shoji had ever went to Duel Academia, and he wanted to know if the uniform was worthy of being worn by a Manjoume.

Jun blinked a little, as if all of his brain wasn't quite processing the way it should have been, and Chosaku decided not to give him anything else to drink. He gestured a bit abruptly. "Go try the uniform on."

That seemed to sink in, and he hurried off with the outfit towards his room. He had scarcely left before the servant returned with a tray of snacks and light drinks. Chosaku made a selection and started to eat while waiting for his brother to return. Shoji looked just a little flushed himself, a sure sign that he was edging onto the verge of being tipsy. Chosaku offered him a thick sandwich and the two sat and waited almost patiently.

When Jun returned, Chosaku glanced up and down, then looked at Shoji. "Our little brother is going to break hearts, isn't he?" He smirked just a little at the thought of all of the girls, and their potentially rich inheritances, that Jun would be able to attract. He would likely enough find one that suited his tastes before very long. If he hadn't already. He'd dropped a few words about this young lady in his class that he knew would be attending the school. Chosaku couldn't remember her name, but he was certain he would hear it again at some point.

"And spirits. With all the duels he's going to win in that uniform." Shoji added. Chosaku raised his glass and clinked it once more against Shoji's.

"To the Manjoume Group!" he declared, and Shoji and Jun both echoed it.

It was good to be a Manjoume.

**To Be Continued**


	3. Loss's Aftermath

**Disclaimer:** All canon-based characters, situations, and plotlines are copyright to their original owners, creators, and designers. I make no profit, nor want any.  
**Story Title:** Time For A Drink  
**Chapter Title:** Loss's Aftermath  
**Story Word Count:** 3,364  
**Chapter Word Count:** 1,228  
**Characters:** Manjoume Chosaku, Manjoume Shoji  
**Genres:** Family  
**Challenge:** 5drunkfics: Claim: Manjoume Chosaku, Manjoume Shoji: prompt #5, mistakes  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Notes:** Please note that this story presents the older Manjoume brothers as NOT being abusive evil bastards who rape and beat their younger brother twice a day and three times on Sundays. If Chosaku and Shoji being presented as human beings and not vehicles for their younger brother's angst and woe displeases you, click your nearest back button NOW. This takes place shortly after the school duel, once Chosaku and Shoji get home. While I normally refer to Manjoume Jun as 'Manjoume', because this point of view is his brothers, I will refer to him as 'Jun'. Because that's what they call him.  
**Summary:** Sometimes, you just really, really need to have a good stiff drink. Five times Chosaku and Shoji needed one.

* * *

Drinks. As much as possible. Chosaku stalked towards the liquor cabinet, looking for something, anything, that would take away the sting of defeat. How could the _Manjoume family_ have been defeated? This was something out of a bad dream. There was no way it could be anything else.

"He lost." Shoji spat the words out moments after taking some of the finest wine that the cabinet had to offer in. "Jun _lost_."

Chosaku snarled wordlessly as he drained his own wine glass. "Don't you think I noticed that? What did he think he was doing?"

"Wanting to do it himself?" Shoji hissed and shook his head. "If he had used the deck we gave him before he left…or the one that we gave him _now_…that wouldn't have happened!"

The elder brother glared briefly at his younger. "Do you think I don't know that? I was there, Shoji."

He wanted to drink more. He wanted to get as drunk as he possibly could. They'd both taken several days off from work to not just view this duel, but in anticipation of celebrating with Jun afterwards. _Yes_, he'd let them down to a degree by running away from Duel Academia, but if he had won this school duel, then all would have been forgiven.

_That will never happen now,_ he snarled to himself. _We went to so much trouble and he threw it all away!_

"I thought the Manjoume Group _meant_ something to Jun," he muttered. He wanted to do something. He wanted to _hurt_ something, or someone. He wanted to prove to Jun how stupid that he had been not to listen to them.

At the moment, he was completely blank on what that might be. There would be something, he just had to think of it. For now, he just wanted to be furious. He paced back and forth, then slammed his fist into the wall.

"I thought he _knew better_! What's been going on with him since he went there? He loses not just to an Osiris Red, _twice_, but to a Ra Yellow as well! He's becoming a loser! A dropout! A washout!" He slammed his fist once again, ignoring the pain that rocketed up to his shoulder. The drink made that much easier to do.

Shoji fixed himself another drink. He hadn't been counting how many of them he'd had since they'd arrived back home. What did it matter? The more the merrier tonight. "We did something wrong, somewhere, in raising him." That was the only possible reason. "Perhaps if mother and father were here…"

"They trusted us to raise him properly." Chosaku declared. "And we did. It's not our fault that he's lost his mind and his ability to win duels! Or that he decided the only answer to that was _running away_! We should have brought him home as soon as we found out what was going on!"

They'd known where he was the whole time, of course. Principal Samejima had informed them that their brother had left the school, and since he'd been in a Manjoume-group issued boat, it had been easy for them to track him.

Chosaku sipped at his current drink and tried to think beyond the slow, pleasant haze that had begun to envelop his thoughts. It wasn't easy at the moment, and he didn't think he really wanted to think much, now that he thought about it. It would feel so much better if he just relaxed and let the drink do the thinking for him. What the drink thought was that it wanted more of itself. Chosaku could see no reason not to oblige it.

_We'll have to talk to him about it when he comes home for the summer. If not sooner._ Sooner sounded good. Perhaps they could arrange something. The more he considered this (and it wasn't really thinking, so it didn't count) the more he liked it. There would be a school trip at some point, wouldn't there? He could persuade Principal Samejima that a suitable location for the trip would be the Manjoume headquarters.

"I think I have an idea," he said, sipping more at the drink before he started to explain things to Shoji. It was a good idea, he was certain of it. Shoji listened, his own gaze befuddled slightly by the liquor, but his mind still working.

"That might be a good idea," he said after a few moments. "But I think I have a better one. A _lot_ better." He smiled a bit, and there was something a touch cruel in it. Chosaku didn't mind; one had to be cruel to get ahead in politics, finance, _or_ dueling. If Jun didn't realize that just yet, then he would soon.

"What is it?" Chosaku looked back at the liquor cabinet. Perhaps a trip or two to France would be workable in the near future. He wanted to restock, and while importing it did cost a bit, it would be well worth it.

Shoji didn't reply right away. He was too busy getting himself a fresh drink. They were going to need the time to recover from their hangovers, Chosaku realized. This was something else that was Jun's fault. If he hadn't _lost_, they would be celebrating his victory instead.

"I think we should try to buy Duel Academia," Shoji said at last, turning around with his new drink in his hand. Chosaku blinked a few times, frowning some.

"Did you just say we should try to buy Duel Academia?" He didn't think he was so drunk that he was hearing things. It had been known to happen, though, so he wasn't going to write it off just yet.

Shoji nodded briefly. "If it weren't for him attending there, then none of this would have happened. They permit people like that _Osiris Red_ who beat Jun in there. We can run it much better than the _current_ administration." He stared down into his drink. "I'm quite certain we have more than enough kept back to be able to afford any sort of asking price."

"Do you have anything in mind for when we own it?" The idea had taken quick root into Chosaku's mind, and he was more than ready to presume that it had already happened.

"We can get rid of those Red students for one," Shoji declared. "Especially that one. _After_ Jun beats him, using _our_ deck." That made perfectly sense to Chosaku.

"What about the Ras?" The fact Jun had lost to one of those, especially one who was supposed to be the top of his class, didn't rankle quiet so much as the two losses to the Red student did. Even Jun, he supposed, could have a bad day, and it was probably all due to that Red regardless, throwing Jun off of his game.

Shoji considered. "We'll let some of them stay. The ones who can be upgraded to Obelisk. But as for the rest of them…" He smiled slyly, and Chosaku chuckled.

It would take some time to organize everything. Perhaps a few months. But that would not be much of a problem. Chosaku drank again. This little bit of an insult to the Manjoume family would not be forgiven or forgotten any time soon. Surely Kaiba Seto would be willing to sell. He didn't even visit the place.

Soon, it would all be theirs.

**To Be Continued**


	4. Alternate Plans

**Disclaimer:** All canon-based characters, situations, and plotlines are copyright to their original owners, creators, and designers. I make no profit, nor want any.  
**Story Title:** Time For A Drink  
**Chapter Title:** Alternate Plans  
**Story Word Count:** 4,435  
**Chapter Word Count:** 1,071  
**Characters:** Manjoume Chosaku, Manjoume Shoji  
**Genres:** Family  
**LJ Challenge:** 5drunkfics: Claim: Manjoume Chosaku, Manjoume Shoji: prompt #3, forget  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Notes:** Please note that this story presents the older Manjoume brothers as NOT being abusive evil bastards who rape and beat their younger brother twice a day and three times on Sundays. If Chosaku and Shoji being presented as human beings and not vehicles for their younger brother's angst and woe displeases you, click your nearest back button NOW. This takes place not long after Chosaku vs. Jun in season one. While I normally refer to Manjoume Jun as 'Manjoume', because this point of view is his brother's, I will refer to him as 'Jun'. Because that's what they call him.  
**Summary:** Sometimes, you just really, really need to have a good stiff drink. Five times Chosaku and Shoji needed one.

* * *

Coming back from Duel Academia after seeing Jun and heading right for the liquor cabinet was a familiar feeling. Chosaku was not certain if he was more humiliated or more angry or more just wanting to scream or anything. Shoji had been right; Jun had grown up, but did that mean he should be _grateful_ that he had been beaten by a deck that had _zero_ attack monsters?

No. It didn't.

One drink. Two drinks. He didn't even taste the liquor at all. There was still far too much fury taking over his taste buds. He could see Shoji drinking as well. They'd drunk together often over the last few years.

He replayed what had happened over and over again. Damn it, Jun had _played_ him! He'd known all along what was going to happen! Jun had read him like a book, and played accordingly.

Chosaku wasn't sure if he wanted to admire his little brother for having pulled that off or if he wanted to fly back to Duel Academia and strangle him for it.

Perhaps he could do both. There were plenty of politicians whose sly ways he admired and yet if they were drowning, he would cheerfully throw water on them.

"What do we do now?" Shoji asked, staring into the depths of his drink as if it might possibly hold the answers that he was looking for. Chosaku wondered if it did. His certainly didn't.

As for the question itself, he knew that _he_ didn't know either. "What _can_ we do?" he grumbled half to himself and half to Shoji. "We can't buy the school now. Kaiba made that plain."

The CEO of KaibaCorp had called them while they were on the way home, and explicitly spelled out that no further offers from the Manjoume Group for the purchase of Duel Academia were to be even considered. He had hinted if they even thought about trying to make another one, he would ruin them in ways that they couldn't imagine.

"What would we have done with it if we'd had it, anyway?" Shoji pointed out. He explicitly ignored the fact they'd already made plans to that effect before they'd even considered buying the place. "Those students would never have listened to us. You saw how they reacted to Jun. They _care_ about him."

Chosaku grumped a little more, tossing back a drink. Was it his fourth? Fifth? He'd lost track. No matter.

Shoji was right about that, too. If they couldn't have run it properly, then closing it down would have caused far, far too many repercussions for them to have wanted to bother with. There were several rich, powerful, and influential people connected to that place. Far too many for them to want to annoy.

Fine. So taking over the school to run it according to their desires was now out of the question. The best idea was to just forget they'd even tried that.

"Maybe we should try to start our own school." Shoji suggested. "If we can't buy Kaiba's, perhaps we can lure students away from him?"

Chosaku looked at him, trying to think through that familiar pleasant fog of alcohol. That wasn't a bad idea. Or at least he didn't think it was at the moment. "Maybe." They could start small, which would eliminate many of the problems that they would have with buying right into the larger market.

That made sound sense, the more he considered it. It was always better to start small and work one's way up. They could hand-pick their students, offering special prizes and treats for good performances. It might take them years to get into the same position that Duel Academia was today, but it _could_ be done.

If they wanted to do it. That was the real question. That was the real problem. "Do we have that kind of time?" He was busy with his work, and so was Shoji most of the time.

Now that he thought about it, buying Duel Academia really would have been too much of a drain on their time and resources. He didn't wait for Shoji to answer this time, but just shook his head. "Neither of us has the time to devote to any of that." He drank again. Getting drunk would neither solve the problem of Jun nor make it go away. But it would make him forget it for a brief time, which was quite pleasant to contemplate.

Shoji poured himself another glass and once more stared into its depths. "We made mistakes with Jun," he said after a few moments of doing so. "His deck was better than we thought."

To say the least. Chosaku didn't feel quite as upset about that, though if it was because of the passage of a short amount of time or the drink, he wasn't sure.

"We'll have to leave him alone." The words tasted bad coming out of Chosaku's mouth, but they were true. This wasn't what was supposed to be. They were a _family_. Two of them against one wasn't what was supposed to happen. That was why they were supposed to succeed!

Where had they really gone wrong? Something had twisted into a knot somewhere along the line, and Chosaku wanted to go back, find out when and what it was, and stop it from happening.

_Mistakes cannot be undone. Only repaired._ His father's words, from long ago, when he'd failed on a test. He had worked harder and on the makeup, he had scored almost perfectly.

So, they couldn't change the past. What about the future? "We'll wait until he graduates," Chosaku could see only one way to settle things. "Once he's ready to enter the Pro Leagues, we'll be waiting. No one else is going to want to sponsor him if he's still using those Ojamas, but we will." Though, with any luck, Jun would find another deck style that wasn't so _ridiculous_.

And preferably pick up a new uniform that wasn't as badly worn out as that black jacket was. Didn't he have _any_ respect for himself at all?

"Right." Shoji offered him another drink and Chosaku took it, finding that his had somehow drained itself. He tilted his glass towards his brother briefly before he took a long drink. This wasn't the end. It was just a setback. A few minor errors in judgment. It would all come out all right. One day.

**To Be Continued**


	5. A Very Boring Party

**Disclaimer:** All canon-based characters, situations, and plotlines are copyright to their original owners, creators, and designers. I make no profit, nor want any.  
**Story Title:** Time For A Drink  
**Chapter Title:** A Very Boring Party  
**Characters:** Manjoume Chosaku, Manjoume Shoji  
**Story Word Count:** 5,560  
**Chapter Word Count:** 1,125  
**Genres:** Family  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Status:** 5 of 5 chapters  
**Challenge:** 5drunkfics: Claim: Manjoume Chosaku, Manjoume Shoji: prompt #4, confessions  
**Notes:** Please note that this story presents the older Manjoume brothers as NOT being abusive evil bastards who rape and beat their younger brother twice a day and three times on Sundays. If Chosaku and Shoji being presented as human beings and not vehicles for their younger brother's angst and woe displeases you, click your nearest back button NOW. This takes place in between seasons two and three. While I normally refer to Manjoume Jun as 'Manjoume', because this point of view is his brother's, I will refer to him as 'Jun'. Because that's what they call him.  
**Summary:** Sometimes, you just really, really need to have a good stiff drink. Five times Chosaku and Shoji needed one.

* * *

Being rich and of an extremely high station meant that there were certain obligations that one had to uphold. Not failing at anything, if they could avoid it for any reason, was only one of them. That was something that they had tried to impress over and over upon Jun, but he didn't seem to have gotten the message.

Regardless, what they were doing now was another of those duties: attending a party being held by someone that they would rather not associate with socially if they could avoid it.

"Welcome, welcome," Goa Garam bowed politely as Chosaku and Shoji arrived at their mansion. "So glad that you could make it." His gaze flickered briefly between the two of them. "Just the two of you, I see?"

Shoji snorted a little as he put on the guest slippers provided by the Garam household. "Did you really expect that Jun would want to come?"

"Perhaps." Goa smiled just a little. He was not a native of Japan, but visited it regularly during the course of his business affairs. Chosaku decided that he didn't know how serious Jun's offenses were and dismissed the entire question as being what any foreigner who didn't understand family would have asked.

"Jun is visiting friends he made at Duel Academia for the summer," he said calmly. Shoji might still be bitter over what had happened at the school, but he himself had for the most part gotten over it. Jun was growing up in his own way.

And what he said was the truth, after all. Jun was spending his summer with the Tenjoin family. Chosaku hadn't met them before, but his researches had shown that they were quite respectable. At least Jun had that much sense.

The evening flowed by, and as it did, wine and other spirits flowed into the guests. Shoji tended to be something of a morose drunk, Chosaku had learned over the years, but he still spent more than enough time out there talking to people and making the right sort of financial connections. He wouldn't have been surprised at all to see that several people agreed to take out loans or otherwise work with Shoji's bank because of tonight. His brother was very good at what he did, after all.

Chosaku himself drank sparingly; this was not a private situation, and he was in a high enough position that he was not going to risk anything by speaking a little too much out of turn. There was one advantage in getting somewhat buzzed, however: it could turn a rather boring conversation into something somewhat more interesting.

"I've heard several interesting things about your brother." Goa Garam had found him again. Chosaku took the wine glass that was offered and sipped it gently. It was an extraordinarily good quality; he had to say that much for the Garams. They knew their vintages. "I can't believe that it's all true, however."

"It might depend on what you've heard." Chosaku said a touch blandly. He sipped again; this was really good. Perhaps a bit stronger than he was used to, but he could manage it.

Goa had his own glass of wine and took a quiet drink. "That it's because of going there that he and you two don't speak with each other anymore." His lips curved up just slightly into a vicious edge, and Chosaku reminded himself this was _Goa Garam_, a foreigner who knew no better.

"Quite untrue. We speak frequently." Granted, there were not exactly any telephone calls or letters between them when Jun was in school, and when he was at home meals tended to be silent affairs where he was concerned. But Garam did not need to know that. "He has grown up quite a bit, more than we had expected." Entirely true. Jun had simply grown in a direction that they hadn't expected him to: away from them.

Garam nodded slightly and gestured for a passing servant to refill Chosaku's glass. It hadn't quite dipped below halfway, but he didn't protest. Quite a good vintage, after all.

"What else has he been doing there?" His tone was that of one making simple conversation, and Chosaku saw nothing wrong with answering. At least this had nothing to do with his plans for re-election. Not that _Garam_ could affect that directly, but if he had contacts with other people in high places, or even a low one who was in the _right_ place…

"He's one of the best students there." Chosaku did not bother to conceal the pride in his tone. "Even dueling with Ojamas." He still didn't quite believe that, but it was true whether he wanted to or not.

"Amon uses a Cloudian deck," Goa replied, his own pride much more obvious than Chosaku's. "He's going to be attending Duel Academia itself in this coming year, as part of the exchange program."

Chosaku held back a sniff. "I'm certain he'll do well." He drank some more, realizing a bit dimly that he was a bit more drunk than he liked to get, but since no one was talking anything political, perhaps this once he could let it slide. "Jun will likely enough defeat him should they duel. He won the Genex tournament _and_ he was one of the seven chosen to guard the Spirit Keys in their first year."

Truth to be told, Chosaku wasn't certain what those keys themselves were for, but he knew only the best of the best were chosen. To have _his brother_ be one of those was a definite feather in the cap of the Manjoumes, regardless of what else had happened that year.

"Is that so? I'd heard about those. Guarding some powerful cards, weren't they?" Goa asked in his slightly accented Japanese. Chosaku nodded; what else would they guard at a dueling school, really? "What else do you know about that?"

Chosaku shrugged a little. "Just that they were powerful." He sipped some more of that drink and tried to think of anything else he'd heard. Jun hadn't really talked about it, though he had mentioned _something_ on his first trip home after that year. "They were responsible for the images on the cards fading that day." He recalled it fairly clearly. To see Sapphire Dragon, or rather to _not_ see him there had branded itself into his mind.

"I see." Goa glanced over to one side. "This has been fascinating, but I really must be going now."

Even being somewhat drunk, Chosaku could tell that Goa had been fishing for something and at least felt that he'd found it. He only shrugged mentally as he went to find Shoji and see if he felt like leaving yet. It had been a very boring party.

**The End**


End file.
